---
title: "Collaborative Leadership: Governance Beyond Company Affiliation"
linkTitle: Collaborative Leadership
description: Understand the benefits and challenges of neutral project leadership in open-source software
date: "2020-12-04"
conference: KubeCon North America
speakers:
  - name: Dawn Foster
    url: https://github.com/geekygirldawn
youtubeID: qeCcxM61_v8
slides: https://static.sched.com/hosted_files/kccncna20/18/Collab_Leadership_Governance_KubeConNA.pdf
transcript: https://static.sched.com/hosted_files/kccncna20/0a/Text_Transcript_MBBG-3467.txt
---

The unbridled success of Kubernetes can be attributed in part to being in the CNCF. Putting Kubernetes under a neutral foundation provided a level playing field where each of us could contribute, collaborate and innovate as equals to create a widely adopted solution that we can all use. With advantages that include community building, innovation, and wider adoption, we should consider contributing more of our open source projects to neutral foundations, like the CNCF.

This talk will cover: 
* Challenges of giving up control and why it might be worth it
* Selecting a foundation and how to determine neutrality
* Creating a fair and neutral governance structure and processes for your project
* Tips for contributing and maintaining your project.

The audience will get practical advice about whether they should contribute their projects to neutral foundations along with how and when to do it. 
